The Office ends with one-hour finale

The Office will close its doors this May with a special one-hour farewell… the buzz is that the finale will air on Thursday, May 9.

… it’ll likely do so without Steve Carell’s original boss, Michael Scott. “I’m hopeful, but I don’t think [Steve] will be back,” NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters Sunday the the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour in Pasadena. “He left in the way that he wanted that character to leave.”

With respect, no, it doesn’t make sense for Michael not to return. The staff is going to be watching a documentary starring Michael without Michael. This documentary took seven years of Michael’s life. You’re telling me that he’s just going to stay in Colorado, while everyone else is in Scranton enjoying the big event? Come on, that doesn’t make sense.

I guess the documentary crew declined Michael’s request in Season 7: “Hey, will you guys let me know if this ever airs?”

It’ll be a real shame if Steve doesn’t at least come back for a cameo. Michael Scott always thought of his coworkers as friends and family. For him not to reappear is out of character. Hopefully Mr. Carell will do this for the fans.

While it would be fantastic to have any Steve Carell return, and the final line from his goodbye would be a logical point for him to make a return when the documentary airs, it appears that the episode where the staff watches the documentary is going to take place before the series finale. Therefore, it doesn’t seem like that bit will sync up for Michael Scott to be in Scranton along the lines of what they’re going for in Season 9.

For the reasons Josh Armstrong and others said, there’s no way Michael won’t be back. I’m sure that Steve’s appearance was/will be highly secretive as to maintain a surprise for us. I’m going to choose to believe that the series finale will be the airing of the documentary and Michael comes back for the showing. And Holly will have to stay behind in CO because she can’t fly due to pregnancy! Hoorah!

I hope at the least Michael makes a Skype video call appearance. Or even just hearing his voice on a phone call — maybe just someone on the crew calling him to say the documentary would finally air — would be great for the finale. That’s if his movie work really is too much for Steve to make an “in person” appearance.

I still remember Steve saying in interviews about his departure (perhaps naively?) that he was sure the show would continue “many” years without him. Well, it did make it two…

I’d think they’d be desperate for good finale ratings, so if they really knew Steve would appear, they’d want to promote it.

As for Michael Scott, I don’t need for him to come back in order to enjoy the rest of the show. Michael had his send-off already, and I don’t mind the idea of the final episodes being a chance to celebrate and say goodbye to the other characters, rather than focussing on “will he or won’t he.” Don’t get me wrong, I love Steve and if he does a cameo that’s great, but I’m just not going to be upset if he doesn’t. Can’t believe there are only 14 episodes left…

Steve Carell has said that he does not want to come back, even for a cameo. Maybe they are trying to keep a Michael appearance secret, but I really think people shouldn’t get their hopes up. If he doesn’t come back, then a lot of fans are going to be disappointed, instead of enjoying the finale on its own merits. Steve has said he thinks Michael’s exit was perfect and it would be ruined if he came back. He also said he prefers people to imagine what Michael and Holly are doing, rather than write something that might disappoint people. So for now, I choose to believe him rather than looking forward to something which will I think probably not happen. And if by some miracle he does come back, it’ll be a wonderful surprise.

If Michael was coming back it would not be kept a secret. Michael’s return would bring in HUGE ratings numbers; they would hype it up like crazy, not squander it on ‘surprising’ us loyal fans. Sadly, a special surprise like that does not make much sense from NBC’s standpoint.

If the series still carried its original tone, I would say the perfect way for the show to end would be for Michael to come back. Andy runs off with Erin leaving the office without a manager. David Wallace brings in the “only man for the job.”

In the final minutes Michael enters the office to take his old job back. Dwight asks if he can be Assistant Regional Manager again. Michael says he can be the Assistant to the Regional Manager. Phone rings. Since Erin is gone, Pam reluctantly answers the phone, “Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam.” And the final shot is everyone working as they were when we first were introduced to the office.

#11 Emily said it all for me: Michael comes back for the documentary showing. Holly can’t fly because she’s going to have a baby! Please — OT — if you have connections — let them know how much the fans love SC’s Michael. It will be all wrong if Michael doesn’t show his beautiful face in the finale!

@17Andrew
Love it! And the reason why Pam is even there is because Jim is too. They both realize that Scranton is where their home truly is, hence they don’t move to Philly. But what of Jim’s business? Easy. He realizes that his buddy and the investors have lost the spirit of the thing; they’ve altered the original vision so much that it’s no longer what it began as. Therefore Jim and Daryl start up their own company in Scranton which follows Jim’s actual idea.

I know that show talent and creators visit this site, and Tanster has a link (I believe) to them. REally, it comes down to Steve’s willingness, but in terms of the fiction and the storyline, JOSH ARMSTRONG NAILED IT: “With respect, no, it doesn’t make sense for Michael not to return. The staff is going to be watching a documentary starring Michael without Michael. This documentary took seven years of Michael’s life. You’re telling me that he’s just going to stay in Colorado, while everyone else is in Scranton enjoying the big event? Come on, that doesn’t make sense.”